Fetal alcohol

I was wondering if anyone has ever dealt with a newborn child toddler or adolescent with fetal alcohol syndrome? My little sister is pregnant and drinks heavily every day. when her child is born it will be taken from her. I am thinking about fostering maybe leading to adopting this child I have done some research and want to know everything I can about it. I am not asking for medical advise only what your experience was. I can not help my sister stop drinking and using drugs; trust me I have tried everything. Thanks

I hope and pray she has a healthy delivery. No experience with FAS yet, though in school I did care for pts. who did drugs and used ETOH throughout their pregnancy. One child was born stillborn, the other survived 5 mins. due to many anomalies. Both of these children were born premature ( Baby A, 33 weeks and Baby B 34 weeks). Baby B's mother had no prenatal care whatsoever (no vitamins, ultrasounds, etc.) and was a "walk-in" when her water broke.
I am assuming your sister is receiving the required care throughout her pregnancy, please excuse me for sharing my experiences, but they really had an impact on me. Again, the best of luck.
Two more things... have you tried an intervention? And, what about a Baker Act (involuntary Tx if one is endangering one's life or another's.)

Jun 20, '09

i understand your position, you are concerned about the unborn child. sorry but dont have any experience or can share one myself.:redpinkhe

This seems like a very reputable place to start for good information for fetal alcohol syndrome. When I googled it there was also a link to NIH (national institutes of health) which is another good site for information.

I'm sorry I don't have any first hand experience to share. Good luck with your family.:redpinkhe

Jun 20, '09

maybe if you posted this in the pediatrics forum, you'd have a better response?